
ACC media picks has Clemson as the clear favorite to win the conference
The defending conference champions have been voted the preseason favorite to win the 2025 ACC title, according to a poll of more than 180 media members who attended last week's ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte.
After going 10–4 in 2024, including a 7–1 mark in ACC play, the Tigers capped off the season with an ACC Championship and their seventh College Football Playoff appearance. They finished ranked No. 11 in the Coaches Poll and No. 14 in the AP Poll.
Clemson received 167 first-place votes and led all teams with 3,083 total points in the media poll. Miami came in second with 2,679 points and seven first-place votes, while SMU took third with 2,612 points. Georgia Tech and Louisville rounded out the top five.
Florida State received four first-place votes but was picked to finish seventh. Other first-place votes went to SMU, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech.
The 2025 ACC Championship Game is scheduled for primetime on Saturday, December 6 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, live from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
-information provided by the ACC
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
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Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana football: What we learned from the first week of fall camp
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USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Where ESPN ranks Clemson's 2025 schedule among toughest, easiest in college football
Week 1 of the 2025 college football season is less than a month away, and the Clemson Tigers have officially reported to fall camp. The Tigers, named the preseason favorites to win the ACC in the conference media poll, will face LSU on Aug. 30 at Memorial Stadium in a matchup that's as big as season openers get these days. A Clemson win would send a signal to the rest of college football that Dabo Swinney's Tigers are not only back, but that they're a serious threat to compete for the national title. A loss to LSU would hardly be fatal to Clemson's hopes of reaching the expanded College Football Playoff, but it would continue the narrative that the Tigers have been surpassed by their SEC counterparts after going 0-3 against them in head-to-head play last year, and just 3-7 since the 2019 national title game. As for the rest of Clemson's 2025 slate, ESPN senior college football writer Chris Low took a look at the toughest and easiest schedules for every Power Four conference team and FBS member. Here's what Low said about the Tigers' 2025 schedule. Clemson has toughest nonconference Power Four schedule, ESPN says In addition to Clemson's season opener with LSU, the Tigers will close the regular season against a South Carolina program that's on the rise after going 9-3 a year ago and winning their second straight trip to Death Valley. Having to face LSU's Garrett Nussmeier and South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers gives Clemson the toughest nonconference Power Four schedule in the nation, Low says. The veteran ESPN scribe put the Tigers' 12-game slate ahead of Stanford and Miami for the most difficult schedule (the Hurricanes face Notre Dame and the Florida Gators in nonconference play). "This was a coin flip between Clemson and Stanford until quarterback Jake Retzlaff departed BYU. Now the trip to No. 10 BYU on Sept. 6 doesn't look quite as daunting for the Cardinal, who end the season Nov. 29 at home against No. 7 Notre Dame. So Clemson gets the nod. The Tigers open the season Aug. 31 at home against No. 6 LSU, then close the season Nov. 29 on the road against bitter rival South Carolina, which is ranked No. 13. Clemson also faces Troy, a top contender in the Sun Belt Conference, at home a week after the LSU opener." --Chris Low, ESPN Low also put Clemson's matchups with LSU and South Carolina on his list of college football's 12 "must-see" games for 2025. Can Clemson, Dabo Swinney reverse fortunes against SEC heavyweights? For the second straight year and the third time since 2021, Clemson opens the season with a marquee nonconference showdown against an SEC opponent. The Tigers fell to the Georgia Bulldogs, 34-3, in Week 1 last year at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Clemson has dropped two of the past three meetings against South Carolina, as well as a lopsided defeat against Tennessee in the 2022 Orange Bowl, and a loss the 2021 opener against Georgia in Charlotte. The Tigers defeated the Gamecocks the last time the two rivals met in Columbia in 2023 and capped their season with a win over Kentucky in the Gator Bowl. "Clemson is 18-12 vs. the SEC since the start of the 2012 season, but the Tigers have lost seven of their past 10 games to SEC opponents, beginning with a 42-25 loss to LSU in the 2019 national championship game." --Chris Low, ESPN Easiest Power Four schedule belongs to ACC team, ESPN believes According to Low, the Power Four team with the easiest path to a bowl game in 2025 resides in the ACC: Wake Forest. A big reason why? The Deacs won't have Clemson on their schedule for the first time since before the ACC was even founded in 1953. Clemson and Wake Forest were two of the ACC's charter members, along with Duke, North Carolina, NC State, South Carolina and Maryland. "The Deacons avoid Clemson, Miami and Louisville in the ACC. Their first four games are at home along with two of their last three games. A game at No. 24 Ole Miss was replaced by a trip to Oregon State, meaning there are no Power 4 nonconference foes on the Deacons' schedule. Their only back-to-back conference games on the road are against Florida State and Virginia on Nov. 1 and Nov. 8, and those teams finished a combined 7-17 last season." --Chris Low, ESPN Clemson football schedule 2025 Clemson's season opener against LSU on Aug. 30 is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff. The game will be televised on ABC. Here's a look at the Tigers' full 2025 schedule, with any announced start times. All times Eastern. Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.


Fox Sports
4 hours ago
- Fox Sports
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Auburn DE Keldric Faulk (+2800) Faulk is one of the faces of an Auburn team that's looking to break through in its soon-to-be third season under head coach Hugh Freeze. Last season, Faulk racked up seven sacks, 11 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and 45 combined tackles. T-6. Ohio State DB/PR Caleb Downs (+2500) After shining at Alabama in his 2023 freshman season, Downs transferred to Ohio State in the wake of legendary Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban retiring. Year 1 in Columbus went quite well for the former five-star recruit. As a defensive back, Downs totaled two interceptions, six passes defended, eight tackles for loss and 82 combined tackles, while also returning six punts and running back one of them for a touchdown. Downs earned All-American honors in a season that saw the Buckeyes win the National Championship. T-6. Clemson DE T.J. Parker (+2500) After a solid freshman campaign, Parker was a force to be reckoned with for the Tigers in his sophomore season in 2024. In the latter year, Parker totaled 11.0 sacks, an ACC-high six forced fumbles, 20 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and 57 combined tackles on a Clemson team that won the ACC and reached the College Football Playoff. Parker will be an early favorite to win 2025 ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors. T-6. Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt (+2500) Leavitt transferred from Michigan State to Arizona State for the 2024 season in what turned out to be a fun ride for the program. In what was his first full year as a starting quarterback at the collegiate level, Leavitt flashed dual-threat ability. In the air, he totaled 2,885 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns, six interceptions and a 150.2 passer rating, while completing 61.7% of his passes. On the ground, Leavitt rushed for 443 yards and five touchdowns. 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He also rushed for 674 yards and seven touchdowns. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound signal-caller flashed a capable arm, while imposing his will on the ground in a season that saw the Gamecocks go 9-4. 3. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier (+425) After sitting on the bench for the better part of three seasons, Nussmeier became LSU's starting quarterback in 2024 and more than held his own. Nussmeier totaled 4,052 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 142.7 passer rating, while completing 64.2% of his passes in a 9-4 season for the Tigers. As with any season at LSU, Nussmeier and the Tigers have high expectations for the 2025 season, which will be their fourth season under head coach Brian Kelly. LSU will go as far as the gun-slinging Nussmeier, who led the SEC with 525 pass attempts last season, takes them. 2. 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